


Nusquam

by Amestris



Category: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25598662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amestris/pseuds/Amestris
Summary: Apparently the phrase 'coffee shop au' has max infiltration power! I woke up and it was like I'd been incepted, so please accept this fluffly non-event of a gift. I couldn't make it a modern au, so er, have instead set it in an entirely made-up magical Studio Ghibli-esque reality.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14
Collections: Temeraire Summer Exchange 2020





	Nusquam

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thewalrus_said](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewalrus_said/gifts).



> Apparently the phrase 'coffee shop au' has max infiltration power! I woke up and it was like I'd been incepted, so please accept this fluffly non-event of a gift. I couldn't make it a modern au, so er, have instead set it in an entirely made-up magical Studio Ghibli-esque reality.

The day greeted Laurence with the niggling pain of Temeraire's claws against his collarbones, the hand-sized dragon was stretched out diagonally across his chest and had somehow managed to settle himself in such a way that with every exhale, his talons pinched through the soft skin. Laurence groaned and slid his hand down his neck to slowly dislodge the claws and tuck them back under the wings.

He looked around blearily, noting the thin grey light seeping in below the curtain, early still. Early enough for him to close his eyes and enjoy the stillness, to slow his breathing down to match Temeraire's, to focus on the warm weight across his chest, to allow the quiet burbling of Temeraire's waterfall to soothe him into peaceful contentment. 

He didn't mean to fall back asleep, but when he opened his eyes again, it was no longer early. He jerked fully upright and Temeraire, abruptly dislodged from his comfortable position fell in a graceless tumble and managed to clip Laurence across the face with one wing and two flailing forearms. Laurence flinched from the sudden sting across his cheek and hoped he hadn't managed to draw blood.

Temeraire resettled himself on Laurence's knees, haughtily surveying him with all the majesty of a jungle cat from barely 6 inches of height.

Laurence cleared his throat and pushed his hair out of face,"Sorry." 

Where Temeraire had looked like he was about to embark on a rant about his misuse, he deflated easily under the apology and instead stepped over to the side of the bed, "we're running late,' he announced before launching himself into the air and gliding down in a lazy circle to the small nook by the window that contained a tiny dragon sized waterfall and miniature rockpool that served as his drinking and bathing area.

"So we are," Laurence noted dryly and pushed himself out of bed to draw the curtains. He sped through his morning routine only slightly faster than usual. In truth, it would take a lot more than a 20 min lie-in to upset the flow of his day. He had already heard the thump of running feet across the courtyard and the subsequent clang of the back door that meant Emily was already downstairs. 

By the time he'd pulled his hair back into a tail and started to make his way down the steps, the smell of coffee had filtered through the apartment. Temeraire landed on his shoulder and pushed his face against Laurence's in a quick affectionate nuzzle while Laurence unlocked the door at the base of the stairs before flying off immediately into the shop once the door was open. 

He closed the door firmly behind him and made his way through the small lounge and kitchenette area for staff to the counter.

"Morning Boss!" Emily is unreasonably perky in the mornings, and today was no exception. She disappeared into the back and he heard the kettle turn on - tea. He could make it himself, but honestly, it was better when Emily made it. He had hired her for a thousand reasons, but maybe they all boiled down to this one reason - she makes him feel the way tea makes him feel. 

Their lives were now impossibly intertwined and entangled but it had been less than a decade earlier that baby Temeraire and his freshly discovered human had stumbled their way into the Aeternum Forest and found a dirty, reckless child hanging upside off a branch like a bat. At first he had been unsure if she was a hallucination borne of his exhausted mind or some demonic woodland changeling creature that he could now see as a side-effect of Temeraire's magic.

In the end, what she'd been, was exactly what they'd needed in that moment.

She handed him a steaming mug and a plate with a thickly sliced piece of toast with a generous helping of marmalade on it. Her gaze had fallen already to her favoured sight by the time he had taken his first bite of toast. They leaned on the counter together and looked at the brothers sat exactly halfway between the coffee counter and the bakery counter, one head bent over a book surrounded by papers and the other leaned back in the chair, simply watching. 

Sipho and Demane Dlamini. Two more gifts of the forest.

He'd watched Emily and Demane dance around each other the last few years with the pride and anxiety of a father. Demane turned his head slightly towards them, nodded once at Laurence and then locked eyes with Emily. It was almost embarrassing to watch them gazing at each other with such intensity. Laurence wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but there seemed to be such open obvious pining from the both of them that it seemed that they must surely be doing it on purpose.

Sipho looked up from his book, followed his brother’s gaze, rolled his eyes like he did everytime and went back to his book. Laurence waited as long as it took to polish off his toast, enjoying the sweet zing of the marmalade before he nudged Emily with his elbow.

“Either go over there or do some work, you’re making everyone uncomfortable.”

She scowled fiercely at him, “I’m not going anywhere,” she declared and abruptly turned around and started reorganising the milk fridge. Demane continued to watch a few moments longer with a miserable, longing expression on his face and Laurence had to fight not to roll his eyes as Sipho had. Teenagers.

He slipped out from behind the counter and made his way to Temeraire and Iskierka were perched on a rock jutting out of the wall above the pond, chatting and surveying their lands.

The pond dominated the back of the shop, a space entirely of Temeraire’s, it changed as regularly as he willed it to whatever he shape he wished it. A small manifestation of his magic, Temeraire had changed the dimensions of the water feature innumerable times to suit his mood. 

Sometimes, a narrow lazy river, only big enough for the dragons to loop around, splashing around the course or skimming low over the water to upset it with a dipped wing or lowered claw.

Sometimes a shallow pool large enough for willing humans to share the space. Children loved those days, splashing and playing under their parents’ watchful eyes. On his more extravagant days, the back wall would disappear entirely and the courtyard itself would become part of Temeraire’s playground. In the winter, Iskierka would lend her magic and the refreshing water would become a warm pool not unlike a hot spring. 

It was strange to reconcile the warm homely space it had become with the shop they had first stepped into.

Laurence and Temeraire had found the empty shell of what would become Sanctum on a rainy summer day, the air heavy with magic and full of expectation. They had fled their home in the forest and somehow through the sheets of rain found themselves in Nusquam without the slightest idea of how. He’d run down the cobbled road in the shadow of what he would later discover was a parade of abandoned buildings, one arm cradling Temeraire huddled under his jacket, the other ineffectually protecting his face from the rain. He couldn’t say how, but he’d impossibly seen a door through the darkness. It had given easily under his touch as though it were already open and Laurence and Temeraire had found sanctuary in a decrepit, dusty room with the whole back wall blown out.

They had sat together in the shelter of the ceiling, looking out at the rain in the courtyard through the broken wall and an echo of the rightness he had felt when Temeraire had turned his bright blue slit eyed gaze on him for the first time settled around him. 

The rest, as they say, is history.


End file.
